GIFT  OF 


ill 


UNITED  STATES  BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION 


•  • 


ISPECIAL  PUBLICATION WHOLE  NUMBER  501 

IAN  EXPLANATORY  STATEMENT 

IN  REGARD  TO 

"A  CLASSIFICATION  OF  UNIVERSITIES 

AND  COLLEGES  WITH  REFERENCE  TO 

BACHELOR'S  DEGREES'* 


BY 
P.  P.  CLAXTON 

COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION 


WASHINGTON 
1912 


[FT 


AN  EXPLANATORY  STATEMENT  IN  REGARD  TO 
"A  CLASSIFICATION  OF  UNIVERSITIES  AND  COL- 
LEGES WITH  REFERENCE  TO  BACHELOR'S  DE- 
GREES."   

According  to  returns  made  to  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion for  the  year  1910-11,  there  were  in  that  year  in  the  universities 
and  technological  schools  of  this  country  10,858  students  doing 
graduate  work.  Of  these,  8,369,  or  77  per  cent,  were  enrolled  in  25 
institutions,  and  9  other  institutions  enrolled  539,  or  5  per  cent  of 
the  total.  Thus  82  per  cent  of  all  the  graduate  students  in  the 
country  were  enrolled  in  34  institutions,  and  only  18  per  cent  in 
the  remaining  568  institutions  reporting  to  this  bureau.  The 
number  of  graduate  students  is  rapidly  increasing.  And  since  the 
cost  of  equipment  and  teaching  force  for  effective  graduate  work  is 
comparatively  very  great,  the  concentration  of  work  of  this  kind  in 
a  few  of  the  richer  institutions  will  doubtless  increase  rapidly  from 
year  to  year.  In  the  same  year  several  thousand  other  students  were 
enrolled  in  the  professional  schools  whose  standards  of  admission 
require  the  bachelor's  degree  from  a  standard  college,  or  the  comple- 
tion of  some  definite  portion  of  the  work  required  for  graduation  in 
the  same.  These  thousands  of  graduate  students  and  students  with 
advanced  standing  in  academic  and  professional  schools  come  from 
four  or  five  hundred  colleges,  old  and  new,  large  and  small,  public 
and  private,  rich  and  poor,  in  all  parts  of  the  country  and  with 
standards  varying  as  widely  as  the  conditions  under  which  they 
work  and  the  needs  of  the  people  they  serve. 

The  deans  and  other  responsible  officers  of  the  graduate  and  pro- 
fessional schools  naturally  wish  to  deal  justly  with  the  large  num- 
bers of  students  applying  annually  for  admission,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  maintain  their  own  standards.  But,  from  the  very  nature  of 
the  case,  they  can  not  examine  students  applying  for  admission  as  a 
child  is  examined  for  admission  to  a  grade  in  an  elementary  school, 
nor  can  any  one  officer  hope  to  know  accurately  the  character  of 
work  done  in  each  of  the  hundred  or  more  colleges  and  schools  from 
which  men  and  women  come  seeking  admission  as  graduate  students 
to  work  for  advanced  academic  or  professional  degrees.  The  few 
colleges  from  which  students  come  to  his  institution  in  considerable 

03241-12  328011  8 


numbers  SGx^efal-'yefirs  in^Succession  he  may  soon  know  sufficiently 
well  to  enable  him  to  evaluate  their  work  with  some  degree  of  accu- 
racy and  to  deal  with  their  graduates  intelligently  and  for  the  best 
interests  both  of  the  students  and  of  the  institution  which  he  repre- 
sents and  for  the  maintenance  of  whose  standards  he  is  responsible. 
For  an  evaluation  of  the  work  of  other  colleges  from  which  students 
come  intermittently  and  in  small  numbers,  he  must  depend  on 
officers  in  schools  to  which  more  of  their  graduate  students  go,  or  on 
the  judgment  of  disinterested  persons  more  or  less  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  their  work  and  standards.  To  the  extent  that  such 
judgment  is  affected  by  the  personal  equation  or  is  based  on  super- 
ficial or  inadequate  knowledge,  it  must  of  course  be  unsatisfactory. 
For  these  and  other  reasons,  the  deans  of  most  of  the  larger  graduate 
and  professional  schools  have  for  several  years  held  annual  conferences, 
largely  for  the  purpose  of  comparing  notes  and  trying  to  arrive  at 
some  just  conclusion  as  to  the  status  to  be  given  graduates  of  each  of 
the  several  colleges  from  which  graduate  students  come  to  their  in- 
stitutions in  any  considerable  numbers. 

Anyone  at  all  familiar  with  this  problem  must  understand  its 
importance,  and  it  is  easy  to  see  that  important  economies  of  colleges 
and  of  graduate  and  professional  schools  alike,  as  well  as  vital  inter- 
ests of  the  students,  depend  on  its  solution.  For  any  adequate 
solution  there  is  need  of  some  accurate  information  in  regard  to  the 
equipment,  work,  and  standards  of  the  colleges,  just  as  the  colleges 
themselves  desire,  need,  and  obtain  information  in  regard  to  the 
equipment,  work,  and  standards  of  the  high  schools  and  preparatory 
schools  from  which  they  draw  their  students. 

At  the  conference  of  deans  of  the  larger  graduate  and  professional 
schools  held  at  the  University  of  Virginia  in  1910  this  question  came 
up  for  special  consideration,  and  it  was  decided  to  undertake  to 
collect  such  definite  information  about  all  colleges  sending  consid- 
erable numbers  of  students  on  for  advanced  work  as  would  enable  the 
responsible  officers  of  the  graduate  and  professional  schools  to  deal 
intelligently  and  justly  with  their  students  and  at  the  same  time 
protect  themselves  against  the  false  representations  sometimes  made 
by  students  in  regard  to  standing  offered  them  in  other  graduate  and 
professional  schools. 

Two  methods  of  arriving  at  the  desired  results  were  possible:  To 
appoint  a  committee  of  their  own  number  to  undertake  the  work,  or 
to  obtain  the  services  of  some  competent  and  disinterested  outside 
persons  or  agency.  The  first  course  was  open  to  the  objection  that 
the  judgment  of  any  committee  composed  of  deans  or  other  officers 
of  graduate  and  professional  schools  might  be  suspected  of  being 
influenced  too  much  by  the  experiences  and  practices  of  the  particular 
institutions  from  which  they  might  be  chosen.     An  appeal  was  there- 


fore  made  to  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  to  undertake 
this  work,  in  the  belief  that  it  could  be  done  here  more  accurately 
and  more  acceptably  than  anywhere  else.  Dr.  Brown,  at  that  time 
Commissioner  of  Education,  recognized  the  magnitude  and  difficulty 
of  the  task,  but  he  also  foresaw  the  good  results  that  must  come  from 
having  it  well  done.  Therefore,  after  careful  consideration,  he 
agreed  to  have  the  work  done  by  this  bureau  and  assigned  it  to  Dr. 
Kendric  C.  Babcock,  who  had  recently  come  to  the  bureau  as  spe- 
cialist in  higher  education.  It  was  easily  apparent  that  this  work 
would  require  much  time,  skill,  and  patience,  and  that  it  must  reach 
even  a  tentative  conclusion  through  several  stages  following  upon  one 
another  at  rather  long  intervals.  It  was  hoped,  however,  that-  the 
work  might  be  allowed  to  proceed  without  undue  exploitation  of  the 
earlier  and  necessarily  imperfect  results. 

The  enormous  task  of  visiting  and  examining  all  the  colleges  con- 
cerned was  clearly  out  of  question.  It  could  not  be  done  in  any  rea- 
sonable time.  Evidently,  therefore,  the  first  step  was  to  find  as 
nearly  as  possible  the  common  or  average  practice  of  the  graduate 
and  professional  schools  in  dealing  with  students  coming  from  each 
of  the  more  important  colleges  and  to  correct  this  by  a  careful  study 
of  the  experiences  of  each  of  the  larger  graduate  and  professional 
schools  with  students  coming  from  colleges  within  its  own  particular 
sphere  and  of  whose  work  and  standards  its  officers  might  well  be 
supposed  to  have  more  accurate  knowledge  than  the  officers  of  other 
institutions  could  have.  Each  large  graduate  or  professional  school 
has  such  a  sphere,  which  includes  a  larger  or  smaller  group  of  col- 
leges the  majority  of  whose  students  desiring  to  do  advanced  work 
come  to  it.  Its  officers  therefore  are  soon  possessed  of  knowledge 
about  these  colleges  which  can  not  fail  to  be  helpful  to  the  officers  of 
all  other  graduate  or  professional  schools  at  which  any  of  the  stu- 
dents of  these  colleges  seek  admission. 

By  finding  an^)]  making  known  to  each  of  the  graduate  and  pro- 
fessional schools  the  average  practice  of  all,  and  to^all  the  more  in- 
telligent practice  of  each  in  regard  to  the  students  of  colleges  in  its 
own  immediate  and  particular  sphere,  it  was  hoped  that  at  least  the 
most  obvious  errors  in  dealing  with  advanced  and  graduate  students 
might  be  eliminated.  This  Dr.  Babcock  undertook  to  do.  He  visited 
as  many  of  the  graduate  and  professional  schools  as  he  could,  con- 
sulted their  deans  and  other  responsible  officers  and  examined  their 
records  of  students.  The  information  thus  gained  he  supplemented 
by  consulting  the  executive  officers  of  all  or  most  of  the  large  edu- 
cational boards  in  regard  to  the  institutions  of  learning  best  known 
to  them,  by  conference  with  State  officers  and  by  interviews  with 
presidents  and  deans  of  State  universities  as  to  their  experience  with 
graduate  students  coming  to  them  from  other  colleges  in  their  re- 


spective  States.  Reliance  was  also  placed  upon  the  somewhat  full 
and  accurate  information  which  this  bureau  has  of  many  of  the 
colleges  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  some  of  which  have  made  marked 
improvement  in  standards  and  work  so  recently  that  these  improve- 
ments have  not  yet  been  fully  recognized  even  by  the  graduate  and 
professional  schools  with  which  they  have  the  closest  relations.  With 
a  later  stage  of  the  work  in  mind,  Dr.  Babcock  visited  as  many  colleges 
as  he  could  conveniently  in  connection  with  the  performance  of  other 
duties,  but  none  of  these  was  examined  with  the  purpose  of  making 
a  personal  and  final  evaluation  of  its  work  as  a  whole. 

After  10  months  of  careful  investigation  of  the  kind  above  indi- 
cated, Dr.  Babcock  made  a  tentative  grouping  of  344  colleges,  only  a 
little  more  than  half  the  number  reporting  to  this  bureau,  but  a  much 
larger  proportion  of  those  sending  graduates  on  for  advanced  work. 
The  list  was  confessedly  incomplete  and  the  grouping  only  tentative. 

"  Institutions  whose  graduates  would,"  according  to  his  findings, 
"  ordinarily  be  able  to  take  the  master's  degree  at  any  of  the  large 
graduate  schools  in  one  year  after  receiving  the  bachelor's  degree, 
without  necessarily  doing  more  than  the  amount  of  work  regularly 
prescribed  for  such  higher  degree,"  were  listed  in  the  first  group, 
which  contained  the  names  of  59  colleges. 

"Institutions  whose  graduates  would  probably  require  for  the 
master's  degree  in  one  of  the  strong  graduate  schools  somewhat  more 
than  one  year's  regular  graduate  work  *  *  *  a  differential  which 
might  be  represented  by  one  or  two  extra  year  courses,  by  one  or  more 
summer  school  sessions,  or  by  a  fourth  or  fifth  quarter  "  were  placed 
in  the  second  group,  which  contained  the  names  of  161  colleges.  "  In 
accordance  with  the  practice  of  some  graduate  schools  "  Dr.  Babcock 
found  "  a  brilliant  student  with  a  brilliant  record  from  the  strong 
institutions  in  this  class  might  be  admitted  probationally  to  regular 
candidacy,  and  if  he  gave  satisfactory  evidence  of  his  ability  to  do 
the  prescribed  work  during  the  first  term  or  semester  he  might  be 
given  an  individual  rerating  in  the  middle  of  the  year  and  be  granted 
the  higher  degree  on  the  completion  of  the  regular  minimum  amount 
of  work."  The  colleges  in  this  list  to  which  this  practice  seemed  to 
apply  were  starred.  Of  these  there  were  44.  This  gives  a  total  of 
103  colleges  whose  better  students  may,  according  to  this  finding,  hope 
to  make  the  master's  degree  in  one  year  without  doing  more  than  the 
usual  amount  of  work,  and  leaves  117  whose  students  must  to  obtain 
this  degree  expect  to  do  something  more  than  the  minimum  amount 
of  work  required. 

"  Institutions  whose  standards  of  admission  and  graduation  are 
so  low,  or  so  uncertain,  or  so  loosely  administered  as  to  make  the 
requirement  of  two  years  for  the  master's  degree  probable  "  were 
placed  in  the  third  class,  which  contained  the  names  of  84  colleges. 


"  Institutions  whose  bachelor's  degree  would  be  approximately  two 
years  short  of  equivalency  of  the  standard  bachelor's  degree  of  a 
standard  college  "  were  placed  in  the  fourth  group,  which  contained 
the  names  of  40  colleges.  A  "  standard  college  "  was  interpreted  as 
being  "  one  requiring  the  usual  four  years  of  high-school  work  or  at 
least  14  units  for  admission  and  four  years  of  well-distributed  college 
work  for  graduation,  in  charge  of  a  competent  faculty  of  not  less 
than  six  persons  giving  their  whole  time  to  college  work." 

"  The  rating  of  institutions  in  this  classification  is  based  upon  the 
course  which  might  be  followed  by  an  ambitious  student  proceeding 
under  normal  conditions:  (1)  An  earnest  student  of  good  ability  and 
health  who  has  complied  with  the  requirements  for  a  bachelor's 
degree  in  a  standard  college.  (2)  Whose  work  includes  a  solid 
foundation  for  the  courses  which  he  desires  to  take  for  the  advanced 
degree.  (3)  Who  enters  upon  graduate  work  within  a  year  or  two 
after  taking  his  bachelor's  degree  without  intervening  special  study 
and  without  such  advantages  as  might  arise  from  teaching  subjects 
of  a  special  nature  in  high  school  or  college,  thereby  making  up  in 
some  part  deficiencies  in  his  college  preparation  for  graduate  work." 

It  is  "  assumed  that  the  line  of  study  pursued  for  the  higher  degree 
is  closely  allied  to  the  work  done  as  an  undergraduate  and  not  widely 
divergent,  as  would  be  the  case  for  a  graduate  from  a  classical  course 
desiring  to  take  a  master's  degree  in  forestry  "  or  civil  engineering. 

The  tentative  grouping  made  on  this  basis  Dr.  Babcock  submitted 
to  me  for  my  inspection  and  approval.  It  seemed  to  be  as  accurate  as 
could  be  made  without  the  careful  criticism  of  the  officers  of  the 
graduate  and  professional  schools  on  whose  judgment  and  practice 
it  was  largely  based.  Since  it  would  be  easier  for  them  to  review  it 
if  presented  in  the  form  of  a  printed  pamphlet  rather  than  on  multi- 
graph  sheets,  as  was  at  first  suggested,  I  requested  that  it  be  printed 
and  treated  as  a  proof  sheet  until  it  might  be  revised  in  the  light  of 
their  criticism.  This  was  done,  and  200  copies  were  delivered  to  the 
Bureau  of  Education,  practically  all  of  which  were  sent  to  the  deans 
of  the  larger  graduate  and  professional  schools  in  the  hope  that  their 
"  frank  and  thoroughgoing  criticism  "  might  assist  the  bureau  in  its 
preparation  of  a  larger  and  more  correct  list  later.  Through  an 
an  oversight  the  pamphlet  was  not  marked  "  Proof — Confidential " 
as  it  should  have  been,  and  before  the  error  was  discovered  the 
superintendent  of  documents  had  received  copies  of  it  for  distribution 
to  the  depository  libraries  and  for  sale.  This  explains  why  the 
pamphlet  does  not  have  any  serial  number  on  it,  nor  any  statement 
that  it  is  a  document  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education. 
The  Bureau  of  Education  does  nothing  which  it  wishes  to  conceal, 
but  its  work,  like  any  other  work,  can  not  fairly  be  considered  as 
complete  when  it  has  only  been  begun,  and  even  a  cursory  reading 


8 

of  this  tentative  statement  could  not  fail  to  reveal  the  fact  that  it 
was  not  intended  for  general  publication,  and  that  any  such  use  of  it 
was  not  expected. 

It  seems  also  to  have  been  unfortunate  that  the  groups  of  colleges 
referred  to  above  were  designated  as  "  Class  1,"  "  Class  2,"  "  Class  3," 
and  "  Class  4,"  and  that  the  word  "  classification  "  appeared  on  the 
title-page,  since  these  facts  have  given  offense  to  some  who  have 
doubtlessly  not  read  the  full  and  specific  statement  that  the  classifi- 
cation is  "  with  reference  to  bachelor's  degrees  "  only,  on  the  basis, 
and  for  the  purpose,  and  from  the  information  set  forth  above,  and 
only  tentative. 

No  attempt  was  made  to  classify  colleges  on  the  basis  of  their 
worth  and  merits  as  educational  institutions  founded  and  maintained 
to  serve  their  constituencies  according  to  their  needs  and  conditions, 
nor  did  it  have  any  intention  of  announcing  "  a  judgment  day  for 
our  colleges,"  or  doing  anything  more  than  that  which  is  clearly 
stated  above.  I  know  many  colleges  listed  in  the  second,  third,  or 
fourth  group  which  are  serving  their  constituencies  much  better 
than  they  could  if,  in  disregard  of  needs,  conditions,  and  demands, 
they  should  raise  their  requirements  for  admission  and  graduation 
so  as  to  put  them  into  a  higher  group  of  this  classification,  made  on 
the  narrow  basis  of  the  rating  of  their  bachelor's  degrees  as  recorded 
at  the  graduate  and  professional  schools.  Neither  can  the  place  of 
any  institution  in  this  tentative  group  be  legitimately  used  for  ad- 
vertising purposes  unless  accompanied  by  a  clear  statement  of  the 
purpose,  method,  and  basis  of  the  grouping  and  the  statement  that 
it  is  only  tentative  and  confessedly  imperfect. 

What  further  has  been  done?     What  is  the  further  intention  of 
the  Bureau  of  Education  in  this  work  'i     Briefly,  as  follows : 

The  generous  criticisms  and  continued  investigations  of  a  year 
have  indicated  the  desirability  of  making  the  grouping  in  a  some- 
what different  form  and  the  change  of  about  a  dozen  colleges  to  an- 
other group  from  that  in  which  they  were  first  placed.  A  revision 
of  the  original  statement  embodying  these  changes  has  been  made 
and  the  galley  proofs  of  it  have  been  sent  to  the  officers  of  the  gradu- 
ate and  professional  schools  for  further  criticism.  When  these  have 
been  returned  a  revised  statement,  which  will  then  show  as  clearly 
as  possible,  not  the  independent  judgment  of  the  Bureau  of  Educa- 
tion or  of  any  of  its  employees,  but  mainly  the  practice  of  the  gradu- 
ate and  professional  schools  in  dealing  with  students  holding  the 
bachelor's  degree  from  any  of  the  several  colleges  listed  and  present- 
ing themselves  for  professional  or  advanced  work,  will  be  issued  as 
a  confidential  proof  sheet  and  sent  to  the  officers  of  the  graduate  and 
professional  schools  for  such  assistance  as  it  can  give  them  in  this 
still  imperfect  and  tentative  stage,  and  to  the  presidents  of  the  col- 


9 

leges  listed  for  their  information  as  to  how  these  colleges  are  rated 
at  the  graduate  and  professional  schools  to  which  their  students  go 
for  advanced  work,  and  also  for  the  frank  criticism  of  these  presi- 
dents and  of  the  members  of  the  faculties  of  their  colleges.  To  have 
sent  to  these  presidents  or  to  the  public  press  the  first  tentative  state- 
ment before  it  could  be  corrected  so  as  to  show  more  accurately  the 
practice  of  the  graduate  and  professional  schools  would  have  been 
premature  and  unfair  to  graduate  schools  and  colleges  alike. 

No  doubt  it  will  be  discovered,  when  this  revised  statement  comes 
into  the  hands  of  the  presidents  of  the  colleges  listed  in  it,  that  the 
work  and  standards  of  many  of  them  have  not  been  correctly  evalu- 
ated, and  that  there  has  been  danger,  at  least,  that  their  graduates 
would  not  be  given  the  exact  amount  of  credit  they  should  receive 
when  presenting  themselves  ^or  advanced  work.  That  there  has 
been  such  danger  is  well  known,  and  this  knowledge  constituted  the 
principal  reason  for  undertaking  this  difficult  and  important  task. 

Upon  request  from  the  proper  authorities  of  any  college  which 
seems  to  be  rated  too  low  or  too  high,  the  bureau  will  gladly  under- 
take an  examination  of  equipment,  requirements,  standards,  and  work 
and  assist  in  any  other  way  it  can  toward  having  the  rating  cor- 
rected, and  it  will  issue  new  revisions  of  these  proof  sheets  as  often 
as  may  seem  desirable.  The  number  of  men  in  the  bureau  who  can 
give  their  time  to  this  work  is  not  sufficient  to  carry  it  forward  as 
rapidly  as  we  and  all  concerned  would  like,  but  possibly  a  way  may 
be  found  by  which  competent  assistance  may  be  had,  and  no  great 
harm  can  come  from  a  reasonable  delay  if  those  interested  will  only 
take  the  trouble  to  inform  themselves  fully  as  to  the  nature  and  pur- 
pose of  the  work  and  then  give  such  assistance  as  they  can  in  carrying 
it  forward.  A  delay  of  a  few  months,  or  a  few  years  even,  in  the 
accomplishment  of  a  task  of  this  kind  and  magnitude  is  not  so  im- 
portant as  that  it  may  finally  be  done  honestly,  faithfully,  and  in- 
telligently. 

There  can  be  little  doubt,  on  the  other  hand,  that  some  colleges 
will  find  they  have  defects  of  which  they  have  not  been  aware.  The 
frank,  but  unbiased,  criticism  from  the  outside,  which  should  be 
welcomed  by  all  educational  institutions,  may  reveal  defects  and 
weaknesses  in  equipment,  requirements  for  admission,  standards  of 
graduation,  organization,  and  teaching  not  realized  by  those  charged 
with  their  government  and  conduct.  Many  of  these  will  ask,  as 
some  have  already  done,  that  the  bureau  send  some  competent  person 
to  examine  them  thoroughly  in  the  light  of  his  broader  knowledge 
of  similar  institutions  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  point  out  frankly 
their  particular  defects,  and  offer  such  advice  as  he  can  for  their  im- 
provement. The  bureau  will  always  respond  to  such  a  request  to  the 
extent  of  its  ability,  or  perhaps  expert  and  disinterested  advice  may 


10 

be  obtained  from  other  sources.  In  this  way  many  colleges  may 
easily  be  brought  up  to  the  desired  standard,  which  their  officers  and 
supporters,  in  the  fullness  of  love  and  zeal,' supposed  they  had  already 
attained. 

Some  colleges  will  say,  no  doubt,  as  they  should,  that  they  are  less 
concerned  about  the  standing  of  their  few  graduates  who  go  else- 
where for  advanced  work  than  about  meeting  the  obligations  placed 
upon  them  by  the  needs  of  the  people  they  serve  or  the  educational 
conditions  of  the  States  or  sections  in  which  they  are  located.  They 
will  rightly  choose  rather  to  serve  the  purposes  for  which  they  were 
founded  and  are  maintained,  with  low  standards  of  admission  and 
graduation,  than  to  prove  recreant  to  their  trust  by  attempting  to 
raise  these  standards  prematurely.  They  will  either  ask  to  be  re- 
moved from  the  list  because  of  their  disregard  of  all  standards  or 
to  be  retained  because  of  their  honest  desire  to  have  their  standards 
and  purposes  known  as  they  are. 

Finally,  it  will  be  possible  to  publish  to  the  world  a  statement  of 
the  standing  of  colleges  in  respect  to  the  value  of  their  bachelor's 
degrees,  which  will  for  the  time  be  approximately  complete  and  cor- 
rect. No  such  statement  can  ever  be  final.  It  will  need  careful  re- 
vision from  year  to  year  as  new  colleges  come  into  existence  and  old 
ones  go  out  of  existence  or  change  their  standards  through  growth  or 
decay.  Such  revision  will,  however,  not  be  so  difficult  after  an  ap- 
proximately correct  statement  of  the  standing  of  existing  colleges  has 
once  been  made. 

Why  should  the  Bureau  of  Education  have  undertaken  this  task, 
and  having  begun  it,  why  continue  it?  T^Hiat  adequate  results  are  to 
be  expected  ?     These  questions  have  been  partially  answered  already. 

For  one  thing,  when  the  work  has  been  completed  to  the  extent 
indicated  above,  or  to  a  lesser  degree  even,  there  will  no  longer  be 
the  danger  which  now  exists  of  unjust  treatment  of  students  from 
one  college  applying  for  admission  for  graduate  or  advanced  work  in 
another.  It  must  be  recognized  and  admitted  that  some  of  this 
danger  arises  from  the  natural  tendency  to  overestimate  the  work  of 
old,  large,  and  wealthy  institutions  as  compared  with  that  of  those 
which  are  younger,  smaller,  or  less  wealthy.  Only  a  few  days  ago  I 
was  told  of  a  student  who,  having  received  a  bachelor's  degree  from 
a  college  well  known  and  much  honored  in  its  section,  applied  for 
admission  as  a  graduate  student  working  for  the  master's  degree  in  a 
university  in  another  section,  with  the  expectation  of  being  able  to 
do  the  work  required  in  one  year,  or  in  two  at  most.  This  student, 
however,  was  informed  that  before  she  could  be  admitted  to  graduate 
work  she  would  have  to  do  two  years'  work  for  the  bachelor's  degree 
of  that  institution.  I  know  both  of  these  institutions  and  believe 
the  average  graduate  of  the  first  should  be  admitted  to  higher  stand- 


ing  at  the  second  than  was  granted  this  young  woman,  and  that  its 
standard  and  work  are  higher  and  better  than  the  authorities  of  the 
second  institution  seem  to  think.  If  they  are  not,  then  the  authori- 
ties of  the  first  institution,  its  faculty  and  students,  the  people  who 
support  it,  and  the  State  it  serves  should  know  it. 

Many  colleges  whose  standards  are  low  and  whose  work  is  not  so 
good  as  it  might  be  will,  when  they  have  become  conscious  of  their 
defects,  take  delight  in  remedying  them,  and  their  supporters  will 
find  equal  pleasure  in  providing  the  necessary  funds  to  enable  them 
to  do  better  work  and  to  attain  the  standards  to  which  they,  in  their 
affection  and  pride,  imagined  they  had  already  attained.  With  this 
raising  of  standards  of  the  colleges  there  will  come  a  general  improve- 
ment in  all  the  schools  from  which  they  draw  students  and  the  possi- 
bility of  a  better  and  a  more  thorough  work  in  all  the  universities 
and  professional  schools  to  which  they  send  their  graduates. 

Sooner  or  later,  let  us  hope  soon,  colleges  whose  equipment,  endow- 
ment, income,  purpose,  or  constituency  will  not  permit  them  to 
do  more  than  two  years  of  college  work  will  frankly  acknowledge  it, 
deal  honestly  with  themselves,  their  students,  and  the  people  who 
contribute  to  their  support,  cease  to  give  for  two  years  of  college 
work  degrees  that  are  generally  understood  to  be  given  only  as  a 
reward  of  four  years  of  such  work,  or  to  spend  unwisely  the  larger 
part  of  their  income  on  a  very  few  students  in  the  higher  classes  to 
the  neglect  of  much  larger  numbers  in  the  lower  classes,  face  their 
conditions  and  tasks  frankly  and  do  thoroughly  and  well  the  work 
they  can  and  should  do  without  undue  temptation  to  deceive  them- 
selves, their  students,  those  who  contribute  to  their  support,  or  the 
general  public. 

It  will,  I  believe,  also  be  possible,  without  increasing  the  danger 
of  a  deadening,  mechanical  uniformity,  to  so  standardize  the  work 
of  all  our  colleges  that  a  year's  work  in  any  course  at  any  college 
will  mean  practically  the  same  as  a  year's  work  in  the  same  course 
at  any  other  college,  and  that  students  may  go  from  one  to  another 
freely,  receiving  full  credit  for  work  done  and  without  loss  of  time 
and  progress.  Such  interchange  of  students  is  very  desirable  and 
for  many  reasons  must  become  more  general  than  it  has  been  in 
the  past. 

Finally,  more  accurate  information  in  regard  to  our  colleges  will 
be  accessible  to  foreigners,  and  a  more  just  rating  of  them  by  foreign 
universities  to  which  our  students  go  will  be  possible,  both  of  which 
ends  are  to  be  desired,  especially  by  the  smaller  colleges  whose  size 
and  wealth  are  not  such  as  to  attract  foreign  attention  but  whose 
work  may  nevertheless  be  of  the  highest  type. 

These  last  three  results  are  not  to  be  hoped  for  immediately,  nor 
do  I* believe  they  were  foreseen  clearly  enough  to  be  counted  as 


1^ 

reasons  for  the  beginning  of  this  work  which  the  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation has  undertaken.  But  that  they  may  grow  out  of  it.  if  the 
bureau  can  have  for  its  completion  the  hearty  cooperation  of  college 
men  which  it  should  have,  seems  quite  possible.  That  it  will  have 
such  cooperation  when  the  nature  and  purpose  of  the  work  are  fully 
understood,  I  firmly  believe,  for  college  men  are  honest,  unselfish, 
and  reasonable.  It  is  their  mission  to  find  and  teach  the  truth  and 
their  profession  to  do  whatever  they  can  for  the  good  of  all  the 
people  and  for  the  sound  advancement  of  the  institutions  by  which 
the  people  are  served.  More  than  others  they  know  that  things  are 
as  they  are  and  that  no  profit  can  come  from  any  kind  of  deception, 
either  of  self  or  of  others,  that  freedom  comes  from  knowing  the 
truth,  and  profit  from  its  fearless  and  unselfish  application. 

The  Bureau  of  Education  has  no  selfish  interest  in  this  or  any 
other  work.  It  desires  only  to  serve  wisely  and  effectively.  Having 
undertaken  this  task  with  a  more  or  less  full  realization  of  its  magni- 
tude and  difficulty  and  some  understanding  of  its  importance,  it 
believes  it  would  be  open  to  the  just  accusation  of  recreancy  to  duty 
if  it  did  not  carry  it  forward  faithfully  toward  completion.  By 
doing  this  it  seems  quite  certain  it  may  fulfill  a  part  of  the  high 
function  for  which  it  was  established,  viz,  "  for  the  purpose  of  col- 
lecting such  statistics  and  facts  as  shall  show  the  condition  and 
progress  of  education  in  the  several  States  and  Territories,  and  of 
diffusing  such  information  *  *  *  as  shall  aid  the  people  of  the 
United  States  in  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  efficient 
schools  and  school  systems  and  otherwise  promote  the  cause  of 
education  throughout  the  country." 

V  P.  P.  Claxton, 

Gom/missioner. 


^^y   A^i.    ^^^^  To  rrj;    ^^  ^U^    rJ^^  "ETi/RM 


siil! 


Hi! 


^C  57927 


Gaylord  Bros. 

Syracusa^N     _T 


ol/ 


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